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Hi everyone, I am looking for some advice, preferably from current UC students. I am probably applying to graduate school for fall 2011, and I am trying to get together a preliminary list of programs that would be a good fit. Here is my situation: two of the UCs have great faculty for my research interests, I would love to stay in California for family reasons, and I doubt I would get into Stanford. However, I am hearing from a variety of sources (professors and news articles) that the UC system is "being gutted" - that is a quote from the chair of UCLA's English department! Scary, right? Supposedly the shit will really hit the fan in 2011. I know funding might be an issue, and I could maybe overlook that for a really great program that would provide a great advisor AND help with my job prospects after graduation. I'm much more concerned about long-term issues - the credibility of the program, whether or not they will be able to hire (and especially retain! imagine getting there and having your "dream" advisor bail after a year or two!) the best professors, whether or not they will be able to send students to conferences and generally help with the costs of field research, etc. etc. Anyone have any inside information? Thanks!